Daily Current Affairs Analysis | 11th August, 2026 | Shankar IAS Academy | UPSC | Mains 2026

[music] Hello everyone, welcome to the daily current affair analysis brought to you by Shangreas Academy 11th August 2026. Before getting into the discussion, please make sure that you subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you haven't, please do subscribe and also hit the bell icon to receive ontime updates from the academy. And coming to the topics for today's discussion, the first topic is about India's first fullflow staged combustion rocket engine. So now Bangalore based space company. They developed India's first fullflow staged combustion engine and the name of the engine is Everest and through this India became the fourth country to have this technology. And the next article is about striped hyena's life. So recently a study was done to understand how the behavior of the animal will build its local cultural identity. And we know that understanding of the understanding of the people about the the native species is very important to mitigate the human wildlife conflict and also for better conservation of the animals. So in this background we will be discussing the importance and also certain key facts about the striped hunger. And the third article is about pradanamandri aas yojana urban. So we can see that now through the eth committee meeting additional two lakh houses were sanctioned under the praanandri aasoja urban 2.0. So in this background we'll be discussing the basic about the praanadri aasan arban from the prelims point of view. And the fourth article it is a mains article it is about a new development a new political realignment in the west Asia that is the mechapact. So it's a trilateral agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the Pakistan for uh you know cooperation and collective security. So we are going to discuss how this is changing you know the the politics of West Asia. So we we know that West Asia is going through war and the entire situation in the West Asia politically it is in chaotic stage and now we can see a new development. So we'll be discussing what is the features, what is the significance and what are the major challenges uh that these three these three countries are going to face uh for you know uh in the agreement and what will be the impact of India. So these are the things that we are going to discuss and finally we'll be discussing the topics for caucus and the topics are taken from the is parliament of Shangra Academy. So all let's begin the discussion with the first article. Coming to the first article, what is the significance of India's first privately built full-fed combustion rocket engine? Article is taken from the Hindu. So now the Bangalur based space tech company Astrobased Space Technologies they developed a full flow stage combustion engine called Everest and this engine is capable of producing approximately 800 kilo newton of thrust. And talking about other features, this engine will be using liquid methane as fuel and for oxidizer liquid oxygen will be used and the development of this engine was started in the 2024 two years back and uh the first flight of this engine can be expected in the December month of 2028. So what makes this engine more special? Why this it is a major achievement? First of all, we can see that uh in the January month that is on 12th January, we launched the PSLV 662 but unfortunately that was a failure and for the next 6 months there was no major launches from India and this gap was recently broken by the Wikram one right Vikram one and now India is slowly the space sector of India is slowly uh you know coming back to form after a short break and now we have the Everest and this Everest this this is the first fullflow stage combustion engine rocket engine developed in India and that is developed by a private space technology company that is astrobased space technology which is based in Bangalore. So through this India became the fourth country in the world to have a full flow staged combustion engine. So US uh you know Russia and China these are the four countries who who you know who already developed this technology and we are the fourth country is going you know uh developed this technology and what is special about this fullflow staged combustion and you know what is the key feature of this uh combustion engine. So to understand this we have to compare the staged combustion the traditional staged combustion engine and the full flow staged combustion engine. So look at this picture. This is the picture of or this is the diagrammatic representation of the staged combustion the traditional staged combustion engine and this is the diagrammatic representation of full flow staged combustion engine. So what are the differences that we can see? So here we can see that both will use fuel and oxidizer. So oxidizer will provide oxygen supply when it reaches the height higher altitude. Right? When the rocket reaches the higher altitude to burn the engine we need oxygen and that will be provided by this oxidizer. And fuel we know that fuel is needed to run the engine. And then apart from this we have the main uh combustion chamber and also we have uh you know a burner and you know uh we have a burner and turbine. So these are the major components but we can see some difference in the case of the stage combustion. In the schedule of the traditional stage combustion engine, we will have only one burner and one uh you know turbine uh one burner and one turbine to you know to to mix the oxidizer and the fuel. And in this case in the case of the traditional staged combustion there is only one turbine and one burner. And what is the function of burner? Mixing the fuel and oxidizer that is the function of the burner. of this burner will provide initial thrust to the rocket. This burner will provide initial thrust to the rocket to make the lift off. And in the case of the traditional stage and combustion engine, we will not fully utilize the oxidizer and the fuel. So 80%age oxidizer, 20%age fuel or sometimes 20%age oxidizer, 80%age fuel. So the the the utilization is not equal and therefore it has certain limitations when it comes to the performance and power. But that is not the case of the full flow stage combustion engine. So in the case of the full flow stage combustion engine we have know oxidizer and fuel and also we have a turbine for the oxidizer. We have a turbine for the fuel and also we have a burner and two burners for both the fuel and oxidizer. So here the oxidizer and fuel will be you know processed in two separate turbine and two separate burner. Therefore the efficiency of this uh burner or sorry efficiency of this engine will be relatively higher than the traditional staged combustion engine. And here also we can see that we will make sure 100%age utilization of the oxidizer and fuel instead of you know unequal utilization of the oxidizer and fuel. So it is use it is using the oxidizer and fuel at the same rate. Therefore the power or the thrust given by this engine will be much higher than the traditional tangented combustion engine. So these are the basic difference between the traditional combustion engine and full staged uh full flow stage combustion engine. And and also for India this is a major development because we can see that this uh the the the the idea of this uh pullflow stage combustion engine was there for many years. It was there for many years but it was remaining in the paper. Many people thought that this is not practical. But SpaceX they developed a rocket engine called Raptor. They developed the rocket engine called Raptor. So uh in uh through this initiative they made it practical. They made this concept from paper to practice. So the for India it is a major development in the space sector and in the coming days we can utilize this powerful engine for launching various government missions also. For example we have many missions in our schedule. Shukran is there. Gagan crude mission is there right? So we have many missions like that. So for the coming missions for for very for many government missions also we can utilize this uh uh you know this engine. And uh talking about the benefits of the full flow stage in a compression engine. So more efficiency because the propellence both the oxidizer and the fuel will be efficiently utilized and higher chamber pressure which will produce greater performance and the next benefit is the high thrust to weight potential which which will make the uh engine more suitable for lifting heavy objects. So we know that we have Mark III right uh LMB mark II which is the heaviest launch vehicle. So in the coming days we can use this uh you know uh this engine for uh know launching many know mass objects. And next is better turbo pump operation. Why? Because both the oxidizer and the fuel will be processed separately in separate turbine. And the next is lower propellant wastage. So through a chamber. So here you can see in this picture you can see an exhaust pipe. So once the pre-burning is done that means once the burning is done for the initial thrust that uh you know that gas will be discarded okay in the traditional stage combustion but that is not the case here we will utilize the complete fuel here we will utilize the complete fuel that is the difference and next is good throttle control which will be useful for controlled and reusable launches. So now you may have a question is this engine reusable? Actually there is no confirmation about the reusability so far. Maybe in the the Raptor which is developed by the SpaceX is reusable but this Everest the reusability is not so far confirmed but maybe in the coming days maybe in the future another version or the advanced version of this Everest can be used for uh you know uh for uh for repeated launches. And next is ideal for reusability. So like I mentioned you know in the in the in the coming days we can use this for a repeated launch and uh limitations. Yes it has a lot of benefits and at the same time it also has certain limitations. The first is extremely complex design. So two turbine two pre-burners you know the comp the design itself is very complex. The next is difficult to develop. So it needs more budget you know it needs good designers. And then the next is high development cost. So we know that it is developed by a private company not not by the government. Next is material challenge. So components must withstand uh extreme pressure and temperature. So the materials that we we are going to use in this technology or in this engine should be high quality. And next is difficult testing. So here we can see that there is there is another uh concern about this uh this uh full claw stage combustion engine is that it needs precision uh you know support. That means if there is any difference in the uh if if we make any small mistake in giving you know on-time instruction or on-time act you know support or assistance uh to this uh while launching this uh engine there is a possibility for disaster and since this engine is providing or producing high energy the severity of this disaster or the severity of the impact will be also very high. So this handling this uh this engine is very you know it it is very sensitive. So it needs precision you know uh support precision precision assistance. If there is any slight mismatch in the timing if there is any slight mismatch in the placement then it can lead to uh you know failure or it can sometimes lead to disaster and the the severity of the impact also will be very high. So that is one of the limitations of the u full stage combustion engine comparing with the traditional staged combustion engine. And now we have the significance. So why this development is significant? So like I already mentioned for a very long time this concept of the full flow stage combustion engine was remaining in paper. Many people thought that it is not practical but SpaceX two years back through the Raptor program they you know they proved that it is incorrect. They brought this concept into the practice and later China and Russia they developed this concept. That means they developed the full cross staged uh combustion engine and now India became the fourth country to develop this technology and also it can support reusable launch vehicle in the coming days because it has good you know uh potential for that and strengthens indigenous propulsion capability. So instead of depending on other countries for launch or instead of depending on other countries for any assistance we have our own indigenous technologies and capacities for that. Now the next is showing the growing role of private companies in the advanced space technology. Yes. So Vikram one which which brought the long gap in the India's launch right nearly six months there was no major launches from India. Some few tests were done, experiments were done. Apart from that, there was no major launches from India. But this was broken by the Vikram one, right? A Hyderabad based uh know um uh company, space technology company and could enable medium lift launch vehicle and larger commercial government missions. Yes. So in the coming days it can be used for various you know government missions like Shukray and Gagan. So we have many plans like that. So that you know we can use this technology for that also. And coming to the prelims practice question. The question is with reference to full flow staged combustion rocket engines. Consider the following statements. Statement one. Both fuel and oxidizer pass through separate pre- burner before main combustion. Yes. Because this engine will have both uh know two turbines and also two pre-burners for processing the oxidizer and fuel. Right. For mixing the the function of the pre-burner is it is a chamber that that will mix the the oxidizer and the fuel. So the statement one is correct. In the case of this uh fullflow staged combustion engine, we will have separate turbine and a separate you know uh pre-burner chamber. And next is methalox engine produce heavy suit making reusability difficult. No we are using methyl liquid methane and liquid oxygen for as the fuel and oxidizer and it will produce less suit and that makes this engine know possible possible for reusable. So the uh reusability. So the statement two is incorrect. And the statement three, India is the first nation globally to develop develop flow stage combustion rocket engine. No, India is the fourth country. No, not not the first first country. So China, Russia and USA, right? So they are the three countries who already have this technology. So the statement two and statement uh three are incorrect. So the correct answer is going to be how many of the statements? So the correct answer is going to be option A one only. Yes, with this we will move to the next article. Coming to the second article, living alongside does not always mean knowing. So recently a study was conducted to understand how the behavior of the animal will shape its local cultural identity. So this study was done on striped hyena. So talking about striped hyena. So the scientific name is hyena hyena and it is belong it belongs to the family hyena. And talking about the behavioral so understand the behavior they are primarily active in the night time. So they are nocturnal and usually they are found in solitary state or sometimes in a small group and we can see that they primarily feed on the uh the dead animals. Therefore they are one of the important scavengers in the ecosystem. And talking about the distribution of striped hina. So they are mostly found in the north and eastern part of Africa and also in certain parts of Asia including in certain parts of India. So this study was done in the state of West Bengal. And talking about habitat they are usually found in the arid and the semi-arid landscape similar to savannah and uh conservation status. So they are classified as near threatened in the IUC and bread list. So we can see that here this is a picture of striped hyena and here we have done a research we have conducted an interview SB structured interview in 104 people in the Purala region Puru Purulia region of the West Bengal sorry the Purua region of West Bengal and we asked questions about this striped hina because this is one of the local animals seen in this region Purulia. So purely in the in this village we asked uh questions to nearly 104 people and out of this nearly 39%age of the respondents correctly identified this animal and 298 uh sorry 28 respondents could not name the animal but they identified it and 25 people misidentified the animal with other species. So from this we can understand even though this animal is living there for many years still the local understanding about this animal is very limited. And uh they have given cultural identities local identities to this animal. Some of them defined this animal as gada which means you know they here they defined the the scientific or the real behavior of this animal like their nocturnal nature you know their solitary state and all but on other side the people described it as kua which means they portrayed it as aggressive and dangerous animal. So why this cultural perception about uh an animal is important because these days we are talking about you know open conservation that means we are talking about a state where the human and the animal can coexist peacefully but this limited local understanding can sometimes lead to human wildlife conflict. So bringing up awareness about a particular species in your local or in your neighborhood is very important to conserve the the species. For example, you know, uh the for example, the role of Maldari community in the conservation of lion. So if the understanding is very limited, then there is a high risk of increasing human wildlife conflict. So here itself we can see that there are two local identities for this hyena. Some people describe it as gada where they have some understanding about this hyena while on other side some people described it as pua which means they described this hina as a you know as an anglas animal. And talking about the ecological significance so we can we know that Hina is considered as one of the important scavengers in the ecosystem. So they will remove the dead animal you know they will they will uh you know reduce the accumulation of organic waste in the ecosystem thereby they will prevent the the spread of infection. Right? So these are the major roles. So the role of the hina and the vulture is almost similar. They are the most important scavengers in the ecosystem. And now we have a prelims practice question. The question is consider the following statements regarding the striped hina. Statement one. The striped hina is primarily a scavenger and plays an important role in removing animal carcasses from the ecosystem. Yes, they are one of the important scavengers and they remove the dead animals from the ecosystem. As statement two, it is predominantly nocturnal and generally solitary making direct encounters with the humans relatively uncommon. Yes, sometimes they are seen in small group but mostly they are solitary and the solitary behavior of this animal makes it very unpopular in their neighborhood. That means most of the people in the neighborhood have only limited understanding about this animal. And next is the striped hina is classified as endangered in the IUC and bread list. and statement four in India conservation of the species may require addressing cultural perceptions and misinformation in addition to conventional human wildlife conflict measures. So which of the statements given above is or are correct? So we can see that they are not classified as uh endangered they are classified as near threatened in the IUC and red list. So the statement three is incorrect while all the remaining three statements are correct. So the correct answer will be option A 1 2 and 4. Let's check yes with this we will move to the next article. Coming to the third article Panandriasana urban milestone 1.25 cr houses sanctions 1 cr houses delivered and 1 cr houses are allotted to women. That means under the Narish Shaki initiative 1 crore houses will be owned by women and this is a step towards ensuring that women know are handling or operating properties and recently in the 8th committee meeting the under the Pradan Madrias Yojana the government has set a new target that is constructing or sanctioning another 2.09 lakh houses in the country. So in this background let us understand more about the Pradan Ajana. So we know that Pardanadri Aasiojan Urban was launched in 2015 by the government of India to ensure housing for everyone in the country and this initiative that is Aasiojana Urban is exclusively focusing on housing in the urban areas of India and it covers all the statutory towns which are mentioned in the census 2011 and also the towns which are later notified by the government of India. And talking about the ministry, it is the ministry of housing and urban affairs. They are the nal ministry for the implementation of the scheme and uh funding it is a centrally sponsored scheme that means both the central government and the state governments will make contributions for the initiative and uh currently we are in the phase of urban aasan urban 2.0. So this this was started in the September month of 2024 and the duration of this 2.0 is nearly 5 years that means it will continue until 2029. And uh currently under this 2.0 We have set a new target that is sanctioning another two lakh plus houses and talking about the objectives. So the initiative is focusing on providing a paka house to uh economically backward section low income groups and middle income groups in the urban area of the nation and under the uh know uh 2.0 0 we have construct a new target that is 1 cr house is currently going on and after the 8th meeting additional two lakh houses are also added in the uh target and uh talking about the financial assistance so the central assistance will be provided in four verticles of the scheme so we will discuss what are the four verticles through which the funding will be given in the upcoming slide and next is the integration of nari shaky so nearly 1 cr houses are allotted to women so the women will be the owner of the house and they they will be operating the property and inclusion. So the 2.0 is giving priority to identifying the backward sections in the urban area and giving more importance to them. For example, ACST OBC you know Safi Karpachari transgender community in the urban area and next is uh for the pranamandri 2.0 aas 2.0 The total budget is around 10 lakh cr and talking about the beneficiaries. So who are the beneficiaries? So the people who who belongs to the economically backward section low-inccome group and middle income groups are eligible for applying this initiative. And next is this like I mentioned this initiative is focusing exclusively on the urban area and uh uh the people who are applying for the uh benefit should not own any paka house anywhere in the country and the priority is given to the uh SCST OBC minority communities transgender safi karmmacharis and all and women first so under the naraki initiative so the women's will be the owner of the house and for verticles of the praan 2.0. So these are the four vehicles under which the funding is given. So the first is beneficiary construction. So here the individual is eligible to get approximately 2.5 lakh for the construction of house in their own land. So if a person has land he just wants a home or a house then he can apply or he can avail the the fund under the beneficiary construction. And next is affordable housing in partnership by public and private agency. So here the government and the private agencies will collaborate to construct houses for the economically backward sections. And next is interest subsidy district. So here we will provide home loan at uh low interest to for the construction of house. And next is affordable rental housing for the urban migrants and poor. So this is focusing on providing shelter or you know or constructing uh providing funding for the shelter construction to make sure that the urban migrants are not affected due to the limited staying facility. And if you take the total uh four verticals we can see that nearly out of the 18.38 lakh sanctions 14 lakh sanctions are went under the uh beneficiary construction uh vertical. And the next is uh affordable housing uh in partnership. So that comes next around 2.48 lakh sanctions are given under this. And next is interest subsidy scheme around 1.36 lakh. And the next is affordable rental housing for urban migrants and uh the poor. So nearly uh 13 13,46 sanions are given under this uh this uh vertical. So these are the four verticals through which the funding will be reaching the beneficiaries. And next is the prel practice question. The question is with reference to praanandri aasio jana urban. Consider the following statements. Statement one, it is a central sector scheme implemented by the ministry of rural development. No, it is a centrally sponsored scheme and that is implemented by the ministry of housing and urban affairs not the uh rural ministry. So the statement one is entirely incorrect. and statement to the beneficiary construction vertical. Uh under the beneficiary construction verticles, beneficiaries get up to 2.5 lakh to build on their own land. Yes, that is correct. And statement three, families with an annual income up to 18 lakh are eligible as middle income group uh eligible as middle income groups beneficiaries. And statement four ownership is preferable in preferably in the name of female members of the household. So we can see that families with annual income up to 18 lakhs. No. So the statement three is also incorrect. So the correct answer is going to be option B 2 and four only. Yes. With this we will move to the next article. Coming to the fourth article. A new security triangle emerges with the Mecca pact. Article is taken from the Hindu. So recently Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan they signed a trilateral pact at Mecca on 7th August 2026 and this trilateral agreement is known as Mecca pact and with this Mecca pact we can see a new major political realignment in West Asia after the US Iran tension after the outbreak of US Iran tension. So in this background let us understand more about this article. First of all why this pact is important why this trilateral pact is important. So we can see that this pact is a is a part of Saudi's diversification of security and at the same time it is a first political realignment in this region and first major feature of this pact is that all the countries in this pact are Sunni Muslim countries that means majority of the population are Sunni Muslim countries and second we can see that now the Riyad the Saudi Arabia they are looking beyond the US guarantee that means you know in the recent times with the uh with the uh the Trump administ ation came to power. The US decisions and its policies are highly volatile and unpredictable. So now the the Riyad the Saudi Arabia is looking beyond USA for more guarantees and security. Next is align three Sunni powers with a complimentary strength. So each power that means Saudi, Turkey and Pakistan all the three powers have different uh you know uh strength. For example in the case of Saudi Arabia the strength is budget. So they are spending approximately $83 billion for the defense and in the case of Turkey the arms they are one of the important arm exporting countries in the world and the case of Pakistan the power is manpower so they have approximately 6.6 lakh soldiers and also Pakistan is an important nuclear country and another thing is Turkey is also a member of NATO and now they are member of this trilateral pack. So Saudi is using Turkey as a Saudi can use the Turkey as a door that can influence the NATO's decision or the knowh the NATO's opinion. So these are the major uh significance of this fact. So talking about the contradictions what are the major issues or challenges before these three countries in cooperating in the coming days. First of all the Ottoman ghost. So we can see that Ottoman Empire now it is the uh the Turkey but before it was Ottoman Empire and this Ottoman Empire was also an imperial empire and we can see that for a long time for a very long time this Ottoman Empire suppressed the uprising of Also the ruling dynasty of Saudi Arabia and next is neotomantoman clash. So we can see that for a very long time the the the Taipei Ardogan government of Turkey they had a conflict with the other countries in the west Asia and at the same time they also you know engaged with the conflict they engaged in conflict with the France. So the the policies of the Ethogan government was often criticized by many countries including certain Arab countries and next is Kashogi rift. So in 2018 uh in the Saudi Arabia consulate of Istanbul you know a Saudi journalist was assassinated and this assassination led to a small or a short period of strained relation between Muhammad bin Salman and Thai and next is Pakistani baggage. So before also even before this trilateral pact Pakistan had deployed their security forces in Saudi for various operations but now but then we we saw that there was lot of conflict regarding the regarding leading the force and decision making and the next is the factor of Iran. So we know that you know apart from this uh politics there is a religious politics in the in the west Asia that means you know who is the biggest power you know is it Shia or Sunni. So we can see that the Iran they represent the Shia and the Saudis they represent the Sunni and within the the Sunni block there is a there is a race between the Turkey and Saudi to be to take the control of the Sunni block and uh between the Iran and Saudi Arabia there is a race to become the leadership of the Islamic world. So apart from this real politics there is a religious politics going on in the west Asia and we can see that Iran is representing the Shia world and recently the Turkey and Pakistan they are engaging with the Iran and also Pakistan opened a talk for free trade agreement with Iran. So this is a concern for Saudi. So these are the major challenges before these three countries in engaging uh through this trilateral factor. And next is Saudi Arabia's security triangle the timeline. So we can see that you know like I mentioned before Saudi Arabia in the recent time they are trying to diversify their security relations right. So in 2024 they signed a strategic mutual defense agreement with the Pakistan and under this defense agreement you know the Saudi Arabia and Pakistan agreed that they will support each other during the time of crisis and then we saw that when Taliban attacked Pakistan when Afghanistan Pakistan issue going on you know there was no support from Saudi Arabia apparently and this was criticized uh you know in the news channels and next in July 2026 Saudi Arabia signed a multinational maritime defense alliance with nearly 14 countries and now we saw the trilateral pact on August 7 in Mecca these three countries signed the trilateral pact which is known as Mecca pact and this marks a new political realignment in the west Asia and clarification. So the article fifth uh like we said the article fifth of this agreement or this fact states that uh you know if the if one of the countries is attacked it shall be considered as attack on all of us. So it is talking about a collective response in case if there is any attack. But the Riyad has said that it is not a military alliance. It is just you know a cooperative or or a collective uh agreement not a military alliance between these three countries and the strategic weight of the triangle. So like I mentioned each country has their own complimenting strength. For example, in the case of Saudi Arabia, the budget, the economy, the oil based economy and also they have a very good allocation for the military. For example, uh we can see that nearly $83 billion is allocated annually for the defense. And in the case of Turkey, so they are one of the important arm exporting countries and they are exporting arms worth of dollar 10 billion per year. And in the case and also it is a member of NATO and in the case of Pakistan they have manpower so they have over six lakh of soldiers and also Pakistan is a nuclear country. So these are the complimenting strength of each countries in this trilateral pack and next is Riyad security calculus. So why Saudi Arabia is trying to you know uh diversify its security alliance. First the recent issue of Iran US tension. So we can see that followed by the outbreak of the war many infrastructure across the West Asia was attacked in including many oil rig right. So Saudi is concerned about its oil economy and its oil infrastructure. And next is concerns about the chalk point. So we know that recently the state of warmers was blocked for a very long time because of the tension between Iran and USA. And also uh recently the Iran administration instructed the Saudis of Yemen to close the Babel Mandabra in case if there is any attack on the Iranian infrastructure. And next is internal risk. So we can see that you know Saudi is also concerned about the the possibility of resurgence sorry uh insurgence from the um from the west eastern province which is dominated by the Shia minority. And next is US reliability. So uh we can see that you know like I mentioned the Trump administration's decisions are not predictable. Their support is also not you know we cannot make any promise on their support also and in the recently we we saw that you know the Saudi Arabia where they initiated a talk with the USA for nuclear cooperation right uh but uh initially they accepted it and then the US administration said that uh if they are not interested to continue with the Saudi Arabia or if Saudi Arabia wants to continue this talk then Saudi Arabia has to be the member of Abraham court. So Saudi Arabia is not a member of Abraham accord. So we know that Abraham Accord was brought to sort out the issues between Israel and the the the Muslim world right and Saudi Arabia is not a member of this accord. And the Trump administration said that they will initiate the talk with the Saudi Arabia for nuclear cooperation only if the Saudi Arabia becomes the member of the Abrahamic accord. And next is filling the gap. So Turkey and Pakistan to plug what SenCom couldn't do. So US I know the that is the US central command. Sencom means US central command. So, so recently uh we we saw that you know this policies are raising concern about the support from the US central command. So they're trying to fix this gap using Turkey and Pakistan and optics limit. So very of foreign boots on purely internal uh security risk. So you know instead of depending on one countries they are using you know they can now they can get support from two countries for uh dealing with the any internal issue. So these are the major uh calculation before Saudi Arabia or they these are the major calculations of Saudi Arabia and these are the major reasons why they are trying to diversify their security pact and implications for India. So what India has to do so we should not overreact first of all we should not react no we should not overreact instead we have to go for a steady observation. So we have to observe this developments instead of uh you know openly criticizing this fact or instead of openly supporting this fact we have to remain neutral we have we should not overreact. Next is energy leverage. So third largest crude importer driving global demand. So we can see that yes definitely the supply needs demand no consumer. Therefore we should engage with the Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Asia for our energy. And next is trusted partners. Korea sees India as a status quo and a safe strategic bet. So you know we may have tensions with Pakistan, we may even have tensions with the Turkey but that is not case with Saudi Arabia. And next is bilateral depth. So deepen defense technology and investment ties with Rya. So among the three countries the most important country is Rya. So we have to diversify our our relation with the uh Saudi Arabia. And next is daspora ballast. So we can see that nearly 2.6 million Indian community anchors ties with the Gulf region. So you know this diaspora is a is a it is it is important for the soft power right we can engage with the the the Saudi Arabia without any major fact or without major military pack or without any major economic support right so uh protecting the the addressing the needs of the diaspora you know and we can shape the policies of the country using this diaspora so these are the major steps India can take in the coming days you know uh with the emergence of this major political realignment ment and coming to the means practice question. The question is the Mecca joint refence agreement marks a significant realignment in West Asia security architecture. Examines examine its strategic drivers, internal contradictions and the implications for India's interest in G. So it's a 15 marks question and you have to write around 250 words. Write the answer post in the comment section. We will review and we will reply for your answer. Now it's time to move to the prelims focus for the day. Coming to the prelims focus for the day. The first topic is shrinking Danube river. So recently the Danube river recorded historic low water level. And we know that Danube river it is a second longest river in in the European continent after river Wolga. And uh this Danube river is vital. It is a lifeline for 10 nations in Europe. And here you can see the picture of the map of the Danube. So we can see that it is covering 10 nations in Europe from Germany to uh you know a uh Romania and then uh you know it is falling into or it is discharging into the black sea and it is the second longest river in the Europe after river Bulga. So we know that Vular river it you know it originates in western Russia that is it originates in the Wald hills of western Russia and it empties into the Caspian Sea. And uh talking about the next topic, it is about Congo's uh Ebola outbreak. So currently we can see that recently the health emergency was declared in Congo because of the outbreak of Ebola. And currently uh we can see that the the total cases in uh in the country in in DRC crossed 4,000 and this is the first time the country crossing the uh the infection rate beyond 4,000 and now uh it know it is uh there is an emergency health emergency and it is the largest ever Ebola outbreak and the second largest uh epidemic globally. So this is the largest Ebola outbreak in the world and the second largest epidemic in the world. And talking about the DRC, so we know that the capital city of DRC is Kinhasa. And the most affected regions of the uh Congo are five eastern provinces. They are Ituri, North Ku, South Ku, Hule and Chop. So these are the five regions in the eastern province of DRC which are affected by the uh sorry the Ebola outbreak. So here this is the map of DRC and why it is a concern because we can see that it is located you know uh in in the middle of many countries. It is it is surrounded by many countries and it is a gateway to many countries. So there is a know concern about spillover and next is signs of ancient disaster for Neptune's moon. So recently the NASA's James Webb telescope identified you know uh identified magnesium rich clay mineral on the moons of Neptune on the moons of Neptune and based on this finding we we we are assuming that many years ago that is around you know millions of years ago there was a disaster in the Neptune that destroyed the immune system of the Neptune. So why or how we can make such assumption? So look at we detected the magnesiumrich clay right magnesium rich clay minerals. So when magnesium rich clay minerals will form it will form when there is a temperature to maintain adequate know water in the liquid form. Right? So this clay will be usually formed when the particles interact with the water. Right? So magnesium rich clay minerals are formed when there is a you know when there is a possibility for water to remain in the form of liquid. But now we can see that almost every moon of the Neptune you know it is uh it is having very cold temperature that means the temperature is very low and the water cannot uh you know uh can cannot remain in the state of liquid. But millions of years there is a possibility that the Neptune had a moon a mega moon that had good inner temperature and this temperature kept the water in the liquid form. But later due to some reason the moon got destroyed and later over a period of time the particles the debris of the destroyed moon slowly accumulated to form the present day moon system of Neptune. So this is the recent finding done by the James web telescope regarding the moon of or about the Neptune and uh coming to the prelims practice question. The question is consider the following statements regarding Ebola virus missing. Statement one, Epo virus disease is caused by virus belonging to the family pilovi. And statement uh uh two fruit bats are considered a natural host of Ebola virus. And statement three, Ebola can spread through airborne transmission between humans over long distance. Statement four, the disease has historically caused outbreaks mainly in the subsahar and African regions. So uh we can see that the host this fruit bats can be a host of the Ebola virus that is correct. Ebola virus is caused by a virus that belongs to the family pillow vir that is also correct and Ebola can spread through airborne. No it is spread through when the when you know the body fluids of a person comes in contact with another person. Right? So the statement three is incorrect while statement one two and four are correct. So the correct answer will be option B 1 2 and four only. Yes, with this we are coming to the conclusion for today's prelims focus. With this we are coming to the conclusion for today's current affair analysis. If you like the video hit the like button, give your feedbacks as comments and share this content with your friends. 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